They can still be found on track and field, in the performances of athletes who overcome personal barriers to compete for their country.

Olympic values are also found among the soldiers and police officers who were told to drop everything to protect the athletes - after a private security firm bit off a bigger mouthful of Olympic bounty than it could chew.

We could do with some of those values on the International Olympic Committee.

The Games' governing body sometimes seems to have a rather shaky grasp of the principles Pierre was promoting more than a century ago.

London - like any other city wanting to host the Games - could only do so by agreeing to the IOC's demand to waive the tax for everyone involved - including the Games' corporate partners such as Coca-Cola, Visa and McDonalds.

The credit agency Moodies' report on the Games did not think they would have a big effect on the UK economy but added that some usual suspects would do well.

"Creditors (banks) look well-placed to benefit from the short-term fillip that the Games should provide," they said.

They later said the corporate sponsors should also be smiling.

That will be of little comfort to the disappointed. Last year 27 million people applied for six million tickets allocated for sale to the public. More tickets were subsequently offered but even our own Chris Hoy's family faced barriers to watching their champion compete.

Meanwhile, 27 international Olympic officials from countries outside the UK were recently exposed as having sold on part of their allocation to touts at vast profits.

And the BBC revealed another scam the other day in which free tickets allocated to sponsors were sold to the public with a 20 per cent mark up.

Some tickets have gone unsold because they are just too expensive.

At the weekend there were still spaces going at the mens' 100m relay final - a thrilling event in which the cream of the world's sprinting talent can be seen.

But the cheapest seats remaining start at £700.

I immediately thought of Keiran, a 15-year-old from London, who started his own online community petition asking that tickets obtained by underhand means should be given to the young people who had done work in their community or to support the games. "I'm desperate," he said.

Few Scottish youngsters will get the chance to attend the Games - other than the football taking place here. There is a whole other argument about how the Olympics benefit - or don't benefit - areas outside the host city.

But it must be even more frustrating for the ordinary people of London who also pay and suffer disruption - then lose out on the best seats.

London 2012 will be a great success.

Most of us will watch it on television in our own time zone - which makes a big difference - and get caught up in the excitement, drama and emotion.

Like everyone else, I'll be glued to my favourite events, especially the athletics, the diving and the gymnastics.

But it's a shame, given the enthusiasm of the young people who turned out for the torch, that the Olympic flame does not burn so brightly in the hearts of the organisers.